JP7587999B2 - Garbage storage unit - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a garbage storage unit that is installed in outdoor garbage collection areas of apartment buildings, etc.

A garbage storage unit is installed at an outdoor garbage collection site of an apartment building, etc., to temporarily store garbage from each household in the apartment building. The garbage stored in the garbage storage unit is periodically collected by a garbage collection truck.

A structure has been proposed for a conventional trash storage unit in which the lid is opened and the door is lowered in order to open the opening (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The trash storage unit described in Patent Document 1 has the feature that the lid and door are linked in operation, so that the door is lowered simply by opening the lid.

JP 2015-074542 A

However, the trash storage unit described in Patent Document 1 has a large resistance due to friction between the inner wire that links the operation of the lid and door, and the outer wire that guides the outside of this inner wire. As a result, the trash storage unit has the problem that a large force is required to open and close the lid.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a garbage storage unit whose lid can be opened and closed with less force.

In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the present invention provides a trash storage container, comprising: a main body having an opening between a front part and an upper part thereof for storing trash;
a cover portion that opens and closes an opening formed in the main body portion by rotating about a rotation shaft portion ;
a door portion that is provided at a front portion of the main body portion and can slide vertically to widen the opening portion;
a linking mechanism that links an operation of opening the opening by the lid portion with an operation of widening the opening by the door portion,
the lid portion opens the opening by moving to an upper portion of the main body portion and closes the opening by moving to a front portion of the main body portion;
The interlocking mechanism is
A wire having one end connected to the door portion from above and the other end connected to the lid portion from the rear ;
a rear pulley and an upper pulley through which the wire is stretched ,
the rear pulley is disposed behind the rotating shaft portion and guides the wire from the cover portion to the front of the rotating shaft portion,
The upper pulley is disposed above the door section and guides the wire from the rear pulley downward .

In addition, the second invention relates to a garbage storage body in which the rear pulley and upper pulley of the interlocking mechanism in the garbage storage body of the first invention are provided on a rear detachable device and an upper detachable device, respectively , which can be freely attached and detached to the main body.

A waste storage container according to a third aspect of the present invention is a waste storage container according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, wherein the door portion slides downward below the lid portion to widen the opening portion,
The action of the door portion to widen the opening is assisted by the weight of the door portion,
A pedal is provided on the door portion to slide the door portion downward when the pedal is pressed down,
A self-closing spring is provided, the self-closing spring having one end connected to the lid and the other end connected to the body, for closing the opening with the lid by elastic force;
The force exerted by the self-closing spring in the direction of closing the lid is smaller than the force required to close the lid when the lid is at its widest opening and is greater than the force required to close the lid when the pedal is fully depressed .

The trash container has a pulley that guides the wire, so the resistance generated by the guide is small, allowing the lid to be opened and closed with less force.

1A and 1B are perspective views of a waste storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A shows a fully closed state and FIG. This is a central cross-sectional view of the garbage storage body, showing the "fully closed" state. 1 is a central cross-sectional view of the garbage storage unit, showing the "open" state in which the lid is automatically closed by the self-closing spring. 1 is a central cross-sectional view of the garbage storage unit, showing the state in which the lid is automatically closed by the self-closing spring. This is a central cross-sectional view of the garbage storage unit, showing the "fully open" state. 2 is a perspective view showing the upper pulley and self-closing spring of the garbage storage body. FIG. This is an oblique view showing the garbage storage body with the upper pulley and self-closing spring removed.

The following describes a garbage storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1(b), the trash storage body 1 is generally a storage body for temporarily storing trash G that has been thrown in, and is equipped with an openable lid 2. When trash G is thrown in, i.e., when the lid 2 is in the "open" state, it is raised to the top of the trash storage body 1 to open the opening 9. In contrast, as shown in FIG. 1(a), when the lid 2 is in the normal state, i.e., when the lid 2 is in the "closed" state, it is lowered from the top of the trash storage body 1 to close the opening 9. In the following description, the side of the trash storage body 1 where trash G is thrown in will be referred to as the front.

In addition to the lid 2, the garbage storage unit 1 includes a main body 3 for storing garbage G and a door 4 that can be adjacent to the underside of the lid 2.

As shown in FIG. 1(b), the main body 3 has a rectangular bottom plate 32, left and right side plates 33 standing upright from the left and right edges of the bottom plate 32, a back plate 35 standing upright from the rear edge of the bottom plate 32, a front plate 36 standing upright from the front edge of the bottom plate 32, and a top plate 37 provided on the upper ends of the left and right side plates 33 and the back plate 35. The side plate 33 is a rectangular plate with the front upper corners formed into a radius R.

The door section 4 is provided so as to be freely slidable in the vertical direction from just above the front plate 36 of the main body section 3 to just before the front plate 36. To be more specific, the left and right side plates 33 of the main body section 3 are provided with left and right vertical rails (not shown) that extend from just above the front plate 36 to just before the front plate 36. The door section 4 is arranged so that its left and right ends are guided by these left and right vertical rails. Therefore, when the door section 4 is at the highest position in the vertical direction in which it slides, as shown in FIG. 1(a), its upper end comes closest to the lid section 2 in the "closed" state through a gap. When the door section 4 is at the lowest position in the vertical direction in which it slides, as shown in FIG. 1(b), its upper end is at approximately the same height as the upper end of the front plate 36 of the main body section 3. Furthermore, the door section 4 is provided with a pedal 41 on its front surface that slides the door section 4 downward when stepped on.

The cover 2 has a curved cover plate 22 curved to follow the arc shape R of the side plate 33 of the main body 3, left and right bow-shaped side plates 23 joined to the left and right of the curved cover plate 22, and arm plates 28 joined to each bow-shaped side plate 23. A gripper 27 is attached to the middle of the left and right ends of the lower outer surface of the curved cover plate 22. The left and right bow-shaped side plates 23 are bow-shaped having an arc portion 24 and a chord portion 29, and the arc portion 24 is joined to the inner surface of the left and right ends of the curved cover plate 22, respectively, and the chord portion 29 is joined to the arm plate 28. The left and right arm plates 28 are rotatably supported by the left and right side plates 33 of the main body 3 by a rotating shaft portion 25. Therefore, the cover 2 is opened and closed by rotating around the rotating shaft portion 25. In addition, a rotation damper 26 is provided on the rotating shaft 25 to slow down the rotation near the "open" and "closed" ends of the lid 2. The arm plate 28 may be directly supported by the left and right side plates 33, but is preferably supported by support members 61 attached to the inside of the left and right side plates 33. Each support member 61 has a full-close stopper 62 and a full-open stopper 63. The full-close stopper 62 is a rotation stopper that hits the arm plate 28 from the front when the lid 2 is at the "closed" end (hereinafter referred to as "fully closed"), and the full-open stopper 63 is a rotation stopper that hits the arm plate 28 from the rear when the lid 2 is at the "open" end (hereinafter referred to as "fully open").

The opening 9 of the waste storage unit 1 is formed between the left and right side panels 33 of the main body 3 by the front end of the top panel 37 of the main body 3 and the upper end of the door 4. Therefore, the opening 9 can be opened and closed by the lid 2, and can be widened and narrowed by the sliding of the door 4. The operation of the lid 2 (opening and closing) and the operation of the door 4 (sliding) are not separate, but are linked by a linkage mechanism 5 provided on each of the left and right side panels 33 of the main body 3.

The interlocking mechanism 5, which is the gist of the present invention, is described in detail below.

As shown in FIG. 2, the interlocking mechanism 5 has a wire 52 that connects the upper part of the door section 4 and the arched side plate 23 of the lid section 2, and pulleys 54 and 55 that guide the wire 52.

Both ends of the wire 52 are shaped to be hookable by a Toyolock or the like, and are connected to the door section 4 and/or the lid section 2 by detachable metal fittings (not shown). The wire 52 and pulleys 54, 55 are arranged such that one end 52o of the wire 52 is connected to the door section 4 from above, and the other end 52t of the wire 52 is connected to the arched side plate 23 of the lid section 2 from the rear. In other words, since the door section 4 is suspended from the wire 52 of the interlocking mechanism 5, the operation of the door section 4 to widen the opening 9 is assisted by the weight of the door section 4. The wire 52 and pulleys 54, 55 are arranged so that a force that rotates the lid section 2 backwards is applied by sliding the door section 4 downward. A specific example of this arrangement will be described below.

The pulleys 54, 55 are not particularly limited as long as they guide the wire 52 so that the up/down sliding of the door section 4 and the closing/opening of the lid section 2 are linked, but are arranged, for example, as shown in FIG. 2. That is, the pulleys 54, 55 have a rear pulley 54 arranged behind the rotating shaft section 25 and an upper pulley 55 arranged directly above the door section 4. The rear pulley 54 is hung on the part of the wire 52 that extends from the lid section 2 to the upper pulley 55, and the upper pulley 55 is hung on the part of the wire 52 that extends from the rear pulley 54 to the door section 4. The pulleys 54, 55 are preferably provided on detachable devices 64, 65 that can be attached to and detached from the support member 61. The attachments 64, 65 include a rear attachment 64 that rotatably supports the rear pulley 54, and an upper attachment 65 that rotatably supports the upper pulley 55.

It is preferable that the interlocking mechanism 5 has left and right self-closing springs 11 that apply an elastic force in the direction in which the lid 2 is closed. Each self-closing spring 11 has one end connected to the arched side plate 23 of the lid 2 and the other end connected to the support member 61 of the main body 3. This makes it possible to open and close the lid 2 without using hands. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the door 4 is slid downward by stepping on the pedal 41. At the same time, the interlocking mechanism 5 operates the lid 2 in the opening direction in conjunction with the downward sliding of the door 4. Here, if it becomes necessary to close the lid 2, such as when the garbage G has been thrown through the opening 9, the foot is removed from the pedal 41, as shown in FIG. 4, and the self-closing spring 11 operates in the closing direction of the lid 2. At the same time, the interlocking mechanism 5 operates the door 4 in the upward direction in conjunction with the operation of closing the lid 2. Thus, the lid 2 returns to the fully closed state. As shown in FIG. 3, when the pedal 41 is pressed all the way down, the arm plate 28 and the full-open stopper 63 are not in contact, and the lid 2 is not in the fully open state. Therefore, in order to fully open the lid 2 from the state shown in FIG. 3, it is necessary to move the grip 27 backward by hand to open the lid 2 further, as shown in FIG. 5. In the fully open state shown in FIG. 5, that is, when the arm plate 28 and the full-open stopper 63 are in contact, the force of the self-closing spring 11 to move the lid 2 in the closing direction is smaller than the force required to close the lid 2. In other words, the self-closing spring 11 is configured to maintain the state in which the lid 2 opens the opening 9 most (fully open). As a result, when it is necessary to maintain the opening 9 in an open state, such as when collecting garbage G from the main body 3, it is sufficient to simply open the lid 2 to the fully open state.

Next, the attachments 64, 65 will be described in detail. Note that, although the attachments 64, 65 have been described as having a rear attachment 64 and an upper attachment 65, the principle of both attachments 64, 65 is the same, so for simplicity, the following description will focus on the upper attachment 65.

6, the upper detachable tool 65 is joined to the support member 61 by the detachable tool bolt 73 so that the rotatably supported upper pulley 55 is positioned on the side plate 33 side. This not only makes the upper pulley 55 detachable from the main body 3, but also protects it from dust G and the like by the upper detachable tool 65. In addition, one end of the self-closing spring 11 is attached to the support member 61 by a "L"-shaped spring attachment tool 71 and an attachment tool bolt 72, and the other end is fixed to the bow-shaped side plate 23 by a spring installation tool 74. If replacement or maintenance of the upper pulley 55 and/or wire 52 is required, the detachable tool bolt 73 is removed from the support member 61 as shown in FIG. 7, and the upper detachable tool 65 is removed from the support member 61. Furthermore, if replacement or maintenance of the self-closing spring 11 becomes necessary, the self-closing spring 11 can be removed from the support member 61 and/or the bow-shaped side plate 23 by removing the spring mounting fixture 71 (including the mounting fixture bolt 72) and/or the spring installation fixture 74 from the support member 61 and/or the bow-shaped side plate 23.

The operation of the garbage storage unit 1 is explained below.

First, if it is necessary to open the opening 9 from the state shown in FIG. 1(a) and FIG. 2, for example to insert garbage G into the main body 3, the pedal 41 is stepped on to slide the door 4 downward as shown in FIG. 3. Then, if it is necessary to close the opening 9, for example after inserting garbage G, the foot is removed from the pedal 41, and the opening 9 is automatically closed by the self-closing spring 11 as shown in FIG. 4. On the other hand, if it is necessary to keep the opening 9 open, for example to collect garbage G, the lid 2 is opened to the fully open state as shown in FIG. 5. After that, if it is necessary to close the opening 9, the lid 2 is closed until the force acting in the direction of closing the lid 2 by the self-closing spring 11 becomes equal to or greater than the force required to close the lid 2. Then, the self-closing spring 11 automatically closes the lid 2.

Thus, if the waste storage unit 1 continues to be used, replacement or maintenance of the pulleys 54, 55 and/or wire 52 will become necessary. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the attachments 64, 65 are removed from the support member 61. Also, if replacement or maintenance of the self-closing spring 11 is required, the self-closing spring 11 is removed from the support member 61 and/or the bow-shaped side plate 23.

In this way, with the waste storage unit 1, the pulleys 54 and 55 that guide the wire 52 create little resistance, so the lid 2 can be opened and closed with less force.

The attachment and detachment devices 64, 65 also facilitate replacement and maintenance of the wire 52 and pulleys 54, 55.

Furthermore, the opening 9 opens when the pedal 41 is depressed, and the opening 9 closes with the self-closing spring 11, so the lid 2 can be opened and closed without using hands.

In addition, the self-closing spring 11 allows the opening 9 to be kept open simply by opening the lid 2 fully.

The spring mounting fixture 71 (including the mounting bolt 72) and the spring installation fixture 74 also facilitate replacement and maintenance of the self-closing spring 11.

The above-described embodiment is illustrative in all respects and is not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims, not by the above description, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims. Among the configurations described in the above-described embodiment, those other than those described as the first invention in "Means for solving the problem" are optional configurations and may be deleted or modified as appropriate.

G: Garbage 1: Garbage storage body 2: Lid 3: Main body 4: Door 5: Interlocking mechanism 9: Opening 11: Self-closing spring 41: Pedal 52: Wire 54: Rear pulley 55: Upper pulley 61: Support member 64: Rear detachable device 65: Upper detachable device 71: Spring bolt 72: Spring installation device 73: Detachable device bolt

Claims (3)

a main body having an opening between a front portion and a top portion for storing garbage;
a cover portion that opens and closes an opening formed in the main body portion by rotating about a rotation shaft portion ;
a door portion that is provided at a front portion of the main body portion and can slide vertically to widen the opening portion;
a linking mechanism that links an operation of opening the opening by the lid portion with an operation of widening the opening by the door portion,
the lid portion opens the opening by moving to an upper portion of the main body portion and closes the opening by moving to a front portion of the main body portion;
The interlocking mechanism is
A wire having one end connected to the door portion from above and the other end connected to the lid portion from the rear ;
a rear pulley and an upper pulley through which the wire is stretched ,
the rear pulley is disposed behind the rotating shaft portion and guides the wire from the cover portion to the front of the rotating shaft portion,
A garbage storage unit characterized in that the upper pulley is positioned above the door portion and guides the wire from the rear pulley downward . 2. The waste storage container according to claim 1, wherein the rear pulley and the upper pulley of the interlocking mechanism are provided on a rear detachable device and an upper detachable device, respectively , which are detachable from the main body. The door portion slides downward below the lid portion to widen the opening,
The action of the door portion to widen the opening is assisted by the weight of the door portion,
A pedal is provided on the door portion to slide the door portion downward when the pedal is pressed down,
A self-closing spring is provided, the self-closing spring having one end connected to the lid and the other end connected to the body, for closing the opening with the lid by elastic force;
A trash storage unit as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the force applied by the self-closing spring in the direction of closing the lid is smaller than the force required to close the lid when the lid is at its widest opening, and is greater than the force required to close the lid when the pedal is fully depressed .

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